MILWAUKEE In 2021, Tucker Carlson , then the most-watched host on Fox News, made his feelings plain about former President Donald Trump. I hate him passionately, Carlson wrote in a text message. But on Thursday evening when Carlson, no longer at Fox News, stepped into the spotlight at the Republican National Convention, to some of the biggest cheers of the convention so far, he struck a much different tone.

When he stood up after being shot in the face, bloodied, and put his hand up, I thought at that moment that this was a transformation, Carlson told the crowd, referring to the attempted assassination of Trump last weekend in Butler, Pennsylvania. This was no longer just a man. ... He was no longer just a political partys nominee for president, or a future president. This was the leader of a nation.

Whether Carlson underwent a genuine change of heart, or decided to hitch his wagon to the 2024 GOP presidential nominee out of craven opportunism, he is poised to wield tremendous influence over a second Trump administration. When Trump wearing a bandage over his ear to protect the wound he suffered from a would-be assassins bullet made a surprise visit to the convention on Monday, he waved at his adoring fans before making a beeline for Carlson, who was sitting in the stands, to shake his hand. Trump then walked a couple of seats over to greet his new running mate, Sen. JD Vance a man whom Carlson told Trump to choose as the vice presidential nominee.

The scene may have offered a preview of Trumps inner circle if he is to win a second term: Vance, a bearded millennial authoritarian , and Carlson, who has spent the past few years producing ugly propaganda.